News & Analysis

Stock Watch - Week 7

By Matthew Stein &bullet;
Oct 15, 2014

With Week 7 right around the corner, most fantasy football leagues are reaching the halfway point of their regular season. What this ultimately means is that teams are going to be hungrier than ever to change up rosters for a playoff push.

This makes knowing which players to buy and which players to sell more important than ever. You simply can’t get fooled into buying a player just off a name because many big-name players have struggled mightily this year.

This week I’m going to help you navigate through some of the well-known players who may find themselves available in Week 7 and let you know whether you should buy or sell them.

SELL

Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Minnesota Vikings

Let’s first start by saying that Bridgewater looks like he’ll eventually be a quality starting quarterback in the NFL. The key word here is eventually.

After throwing three interceptions against the Detroit Lions last Sunday, it’s time to sell Bridgewater. His offensive line has a pass-blocking grade of -19.5, which is the fifth-worst in the league. This ultimately leads to Bridgewater being under pressure on 39.6 percent of his dropbacks.

Being under constant pressure is what causes Bridgewater to throw interceptions, and it’s the cause for Teddy currently having a 74.61 PFF quarterback rating, the third-worst in the NFL. This also makes Bridgewater constantly check down to get rid of the ball quickly which explains his pedestrian 5.1 yards-per-attempt average from Week 6.

Simply put, Bridgewater doesn’t have the pieces around him to succeed on a consistent level right now. They may eventually come, but now is the time to sell the former Louisville quarterback.

C.J. Spiller, RB, Buffalo Bills

Every year seems like the year the Bills will finally let Spiller loose and he’ll have a breakout year. Unfortunately, Buffalo has a problem with getting the ball into the hands of their most explosive player.

Even with Kyle Orton manning the quarterback position, the Bills still won’t give Spiller the ball. His six rushing attempts were the lowest he’s had all year. While he record three receptions, they only went for a measly 25 yards.

Getting quality touches is only part of the problem for Spiller, though. When he is touching the ball, he’s failing to make guys miss and pick up extra yards. This is evident by his 1.72 yards-after-contact average per attempt, as well as his 31.9 elusive rating which puts him in at No. 27 in the league.

Overall, Spiller’s lack of touches combined with his inability to make guys miss makes him the perfect candidate to sell in Week 7.

BUY

Jeremy Maclin, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

With the entire offense in Philadelphia looking wrong for most of the year, it’d be easy to think about selling Maclin after his worst game of the season. However, that’d be a big mistake.

While Maclin only recorded two receptions for 16 yards on three targets this week that was a major anomaly for him this season. Heading into Week 6, the fewest targets that Maclin had seen in a game was 10. He also posted four touchdowns in five games before Week 6.

What should ultimately force you to buy Maclin is the fact that he hasn’t dropped a single pass this entire year. He’s one of only four receivers who’ve seen 50 percent of their team’s offensive snaps to not drop a pass this year.

Maclin is still quarterback Nick Foles’ No. 1 receiver and it really is only a matter of time before head coach Chip Kelly gets his offense rolling again.

Heath Miller, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers

Miller currently ranks as the No. 48 tight end in terms of overall grade per PFF. He’s coming off a week where he had two receptions, 19 receiving yards, a dropped pass and his quarterback threw an interception while targeting him.

However, Miller also played every single offensive snap for the Steelers in Week 6. Through six games, Miller has only been off the field for 22 of his team’s offensive snaps. What this ultimately means for you as an owner is that Miller is going to continue to have opportunities in the Steelers offense.

He remains one of Big Ben’s favorite targets, and as teams start to focus more on slowing down wide receiver Antonio Brown, Miller should see more targets. He’ll probably be a cheap buy this week, which makes him a perfect player to target.